Weeks and Weakness and Strategy

7 Things Worth Sharing

It’s been so many weeks since I wrote a newsletter (15 weeks).
It’s been so many weeks since I posted a podcast (8 weeks).
It’s been so many weeks since Donald Trump started his second term (12 weeks).
It’s been so many weeks since I was born (2079 weeks).

And right now it’s this week, and I am sending out 7 things worth sharing again.

But first, if you live in Boulder and you’d like to come to a Feldenkrais class, I’m offering one tomorrow, April 19 at 1pm in central Boulder, called “Reaching Ur Truth.” Please respond to this email for details if Ur interested in coming. There are two spots available as of 11:00am Friday.

Also, for everyone, I’m thinking about starting to offer a weekly class, in person in Boulder but also shared online. Please let me know if you would be interested in that in the future.

Friday

I believe in U

Tasshin is amazing, I recommend U check him out online.
When I first read this tweet, I didn’t fully understand the significance of U, but I tried the spell anyway and it worked!
I sent my partner a text, “I believe in you,” and both our days were immediately lightened.

I recommend U try sending someone (who U believe in) the same spell right now.
It has strange, powerful, albeit positive side effects.

Saturday

My Vow Story, in media res.

Once upon a time, there was a young man in search of his calling. At 20, he studied meditation and felt such a deep resonance he thought, “Was I a monk in a past life, or something?” At 24, he found another important aspect of his Vow in the Feldenkrais culture, through a revelatory movement lesson. But later he came to feel his Vow was deeper and broader than just Feldenkrais because it also included questions of dance and questions of family, both childhood and parenthood. And it included the very question of the Vow itself.

What is my purpose? Why am I here?
If I ever knew, I seem to have forgotten.

The vow.
The calling.
The purpose.
The goal.
The genius.

Now he is almost 40 and still longs to clarify his vow. He longs to make his vow clearer to himself and the world. He wants to go deeper. He wants his vow to get so clear he can see it through.

He wants it to be so legible that he could confidently and knowingly invite others into helping him realize his Vow.

Sunday

I wish I had a strategy.
In this moment, I feel as though I have lived my life following gut feelings, going with the flow, following trends and responding to other people’s needs.
But I haven’t had clear goals for myself.
I haven’t had a clear strategy.

My desire to have a strategy commingles with my desire to know my Vow.

I feel inspired hearing others talk about strategy.
I feel excited reading a book about strategy.

I reach out to some allies, people who I thought were helpful in the past, even tho I wasn’t sure what I was doing.
I think my allies are part of my strategy? but what’s my goal again?

Monday

Oh wait, maybe I do have strategies.
Or are they just practices?

• I do at least one Awareness Through Movement lesson everyday (I have been for the past YEAR)

• I journal every day

• I write down my dreams and meet with a dream teacher once a month

• I go to contact jams every week when I’m not traveling

• I work with Feldenkrais clients as much as I can schedule (not as much as I want)

When I look at it this way…
Are these maybe sort of strategies?
Whatever they are, I’m starting to see they are not about making money.
That’s one thing I currently associate with strategy.
”If I had a good strategy, I would be making money and having a lot of clients.”

But my practices are more about being in touch with my inner world in a reliable, disciplined way.
But right now my focus on knowing myself feels out of whack somehow, or not enough.
When I think of myself as a (floundering) business person, that’s when I feel bereft of strategies.

Tuesday

I moved my business site to feldenpax.com as part of a shift towards making my personal website more about my whole life, not just my service offerings.

Wednesday

As part of clarifying my vow, I’m reading a book called The Path of Empowerment and it’s really working for me. I did the values exercise, and enjoyed clarifying my current core values:

Self-knowledge makes sense :)

Forgiveness surprised me.
I felt so tender when it came up.
Now I want to find out more about what forgiveness means to me.
Something is alive in there.

Thursday

One of my favorite, paradoxical Feldenkrais gems:

Find your true weakness and surrender to it.
Therein lies the path to genius.

Most people spend their lives using their strengths to overcome or cover up their weaknesses.
Those few who use their strengths to incorporate their weaknesses, who don’t divide themselves, those people are very rare.

In any generation there are a few and they lead their generation.

In simplicity,

Ethan

ps. again :)

If you live in Boulder and you’d like to come to a Feldenkrais class, I’m offering one tomorrow, April 19 at 1pm in central Boulder, called “Reaching Ur Truth.” Please contact me for details if Ur interested in coming. There are two spots available as of 11:00am Friday.

For everyone, I’m thinking about offering a weekly class, in person in Boulder but also shared online. Please let me know if you would be interested in that in the future.